Due to the fact that my baby is 35, and I have no grandchildren, I have been envious of all the projects made. Recently I was asked to make a couple of castles for a neice and nephew of my daughters friend. But the children's mother asked for their names to be cut because the castles would be too cumbersome for their small rooms. This got me to thinking... how can the kids get a play castle and not be in the way, so the pictures below are my end result.

I used my cricket design studio and cut the castle at 11". The free-standing dolls were made with Paper Doll Dress Up cut at 3 1/2".

To make the dolls freestanding, (See photos: Horse Front, Back, and Bottom) Cut 2 Circles from either George or Platin Schoolbook at 1" per doll and fold in half, (I used the clear heavy plastic that the cartridges come in) and put double sided tape between the two halves of the circle, centered a doll between the two circle halves, and pressed together. Shoes were glued on the outside of the plastic. (this holds the doll center in place, and the inner cirle together)

The shelf is a scrap piece of 1/2 inch foam insulation painted wtih acyrlic paint so that its waterproof and washable. These 2 shelves are 22"X9" (ask your friends who do construction to start saving you scraps). Its cheap and they get a thrill out of seeing what you do with it.

Due to the edges appearing jaggered, showing more after painting, I simply hot glued ribbon for hanging and an outer ruffle for appearance on the edges only. (6 yards per shelf - 3 for hanging and 3 for ruffle)

The foam is super lightweight, yet durable once painted. Easy to come off the wall for interactive play, and it hang back up when kids go to bed avoiding wall damage from heavy shelving and avoiding a storage problem to such a a large paper project. Not to mention that it looks nice when not played with.

Lastly, I used storybook to cut their names to from vinyl to center betweeen the two hook that hold the castle shelf.

I forgot to mention... For stability I secured the castle to the shelf because children were going to be playing with it.

Cut castle as directed and with the craps, cut them into 1 inch strips and fold in half lengthwise and set aside. (Like the paperdolls stand, they will be used for freestanding stability.

Looking at the booklet, on page 78, #2...

I cut TWO of the rectangle tower floor pieces. The first held halfway down the towers as shown but the second was placed flush on the bottom. This bottom piece was taped to keep it secure and then glued onto the board for security making the towers stable.

Parts 4 and 5 (pages 79-80) were followed as directed with the exception of applying glue on the big tabs, instead simply fold them down and glue later after castle is fully contructed. Before gluing the sides of the inner castle walls take scrap strips and glue to inner bottom walls and let dry,(I used pieces that filled approximately 3/4 of the length and centered to prevent overlapping) Once dry, glue the inner flap of the scrap pieces onto the board to secure the inner walls.

Parts 6 - 10 (pages 81-85) were followed as directed and again scrap strips were centered, glued to the inner bottom, and allowed to dry. While constructing, insert the big arrows into the slots and fold down but don't glue yet... instead, glue the inner scrap edge onto the shelf. I started with the back outer wall, then sides. The front only has a tiny piece on either side of the moat door closer to the tower edge so you cannot see the scraps when secured.

Once all the pieces are secured to the board, and the castle itself is all put together, you can glue the big arrows you had folded down to temporarily hold in place. Be sure to hold the door down when glueing the front tab.

With these few added steps, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how study the castle is.

I did this step when I made 20 halloween houses for my Lions Club Function. However, I glued the lever scraps to the outside edge after the house was assembled and used dimensional paint on the foam board and levers. The insulation foam is amazing to work with and cheap. Instead of using the freestanding dolls, I made a slit into the foam with my craft knife, added a line of glue slightly pressing into the slit, and wedged the paperdoll into the slit... pressed on the sides of the slit and not only did the doll stay secure, but it closed the slit. Have fun with the dolls, bend legs, fold hands over things they may be carrying, and your scene appears 3-D. (I had several dolls with one leg bent once it was glued into the foam and it appeared that the dolls were running away)

This took me several attempts because I am a perfectionist. Hopefully this will help all of you.

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